The scars have not yet healed. Even the land seems weary, with farmers eking out a frugal existence from a land that can barely support their crops.
Plague has spread like wildfire, leaving whole villages deserted and silent but for the harsh croaks of carrion crows. Veterans beg on the streets, proudly showing their scars and missing limbs in exchange for a few coppers. Every day, more beggars appear on the streets and the City Watch remove more bodies from the gutter in what has become a daily ritual.
However, the wheels of commerce and achievement never stop turning. Printing presses turn out new books that would have taken weeks to transcribe. A new type of magic is taught in colleges across the land, more disciplined than sorcery: that of Wizardry. On a darker note, alchemy has now added the deadly power of blasting powder to the arsenal of modern warfare.
Although the New World was discovered just over a century ago, very little of it is explored. The trading companies who make their living from there would have you believe it’s a tropical paradise where gold lies for the taking. Grizzled mariners speak of vast beasts whose footsteps shake the earth. Traders talk of meetings with brightly coloured LizardFolk. Dwarves talk of vast gem deposits.
Regardless of the truth, many have left these shores seeking a new life elsewhere and the New World offers them something sadly lacking in Estavania: Hope…
The New World is a high fantasy setting, for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition. It’s based on a similar theme to the time of the Conquistadors discovering the Americas. It’s a jungle setting of lost ruins, Dinosaurs, strange and ancient civilisations (LizardFolk), and a lurking evil. As a setting, it was somewhat challenging for players – if not downright lethal!
Estavania also appears as Volkrania’s nearest neighbour in my Ashes of Freedom D&D campaign.
Originally envisaged as a shared campaign with several DMs at Edinburgh’s Open Roleplaying Community, this ran for a few sessions there. The main problem was that despite a great deal of planning, few of the DMs involved were prepared to run a long-term D&D campaign due to other commitments. The setting itself continues to develop, albeit slowly, and the ORC Edinburgh wiki contains much of the information used.
I’ve taken the liberty of including a number of the Player-Characters (PCs) from the setting in the Downloads area.
More information can be found at the Open Roleplaying Community Edinburgh website.
Downloads & Links
- The New World – a wiki containing the work in progress. Comprises all the information from the New World Explorers Guide and Beastiary, plus DM information.
- Rafael de Fabrizi, my VERY lucky PC in the New World.